The present invention relates to hopper tee mounting assemblies for mounting hopper tees to the discharge end of hoppers. More specifically, it relates to a hopper tee mounting assembly for mounting a hopper tee to the discharge end of a hopper which can be easily opened.
Hopper or tank trailers are commonly used to transport dry bulk such as industrial and food products. The trailer has a plurality of funnel shaped hoppers located at the bottom of the trailer. Defined at the lower most end of each hopper is a discharge outlet. Attached to each discharge outlet is a valve member and a hopper tee. The hopper tee has a vertical section and a horizontal section forming the tee configuration. The valve member is located between the discharge end of the hopper and the top of the hopper tee. A plurality of bottom line piping connects the horizontal sections of the hopper tee to allow the dry bulk to be discharged from a single discharge opening.
When the hopper trailer reaches its destination, the dry bulk is unloaded. The unloading process involves attaching a discharge pipe to the discharge opening of the trailer. The valve members are then positioned to the opened position such that the dry bulk is able to flow freely into the hopper tees. Thereafter, a reduced pressure in the discharge pipe suctions the dry bulk through the bottom lines and into the discharge pipe.
Although the prior art hopper tee assemblies function well for their intended purposes, there are several problems associated with the prior art valve member and hopper tee assemblies. The prior art valve member and the hopper tee assemblies are bolted to a flange located at the bottom of the hopper. To gain access to the valve member or the interior of the hopper tee, a wrench must be used to unbolt the bolts that hold the hopper tee and the valve member to the flange. The process of unbolting the bolts is very time consuming.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,681 to Sisk addresses the concern of having to remove the bolts to gain access to the valve member or the interior of the hopper tee, by replacing the conventional flange, the valve member and the hopper tee with a swing-away hopper tee assembly. While the Sisk hopper assembly can be easily opened without the necessity of unbolting, the Sisk hopper assembly is significantly taller than the conventional valve member and hopper tee which it replaces. Therefore, to retrofit a trailer with the Sisk hopper assembly, the bottom of each hopper would need to be reduced to accommodate for the increased height of the Sisk hopper assembly. Such a retrofitting process is very time consuming and costly.
Therefore, there exists a need for a hopper assembly which can be opened without the necessity of unbolting and still have the same height as the parts which it replaces.
This invention relates to a hopper tee mounting assembly adapted to retain a valve member situated between a circular flange and a hopper tee. The hopper tee mounting assembly comprises an upper mounting assembly separate from the circular flange and a hinge assembly. The upper mounting assembly has a flat surface adapted for abutment with the circular flange. The hinge assembly is attached to the upper mounting assembly. The hinge assembly allows the hopper tee to pivot relative to the upper mounting assembly.